Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And a lazy person will suffer hunger.
Parallel translations
- WEB Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep. The idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- KJV Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger.
- BSB Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
- NKJV Laziness casts one into a deep sleep, And an idle person will suffer hunger.
- NLT Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Laziness leads to deep sleep and hunger. Idleness brings poverty and want.
Overview
This proverb warns that slothfulness induces a 'deep sleep,' a spiritual and practical stupor, and that the idle person goes hungry. It underscores the link between diligence and provision that runs throughout Proverbs (cf. 6:9-11). Scripture dignifies honest work and warns against idleness (2 Thess. 3:10), calling believers to faithful labor as good stewards under God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 23:21for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
- Prov 20:13Don’t love sleep, lest you come to poverty. Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.
- 2 Th 3:10For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: “If anyone will not work, don’t let him eat.”
- Prov 6:9–10How long will you sleep, sluggard? When will you arise out of your sleep?
- Prov 24:33a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;
- Rom 13:11–12Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.
- Prov 10:4–5He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth.
- Eph 5:14Therefore he says, “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
- Isa 56:10His watchmen are blind. They are all without knowledge. They are all mute dogs. They can’t bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber.
- Prov 19:24The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 19:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.